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Is Leather Skirt Designed by Urameselgwa a Symbol of Datooga’S Identiy? 14 ETHNOLOGIA ACTUALIS Vol. 19, No. 1/2019 EMÍLIA BIHARIOVÁ Is Leather Skirt Designed by Urameselgwa a Symbol of Datooga’s Identiy? Is Leather Skirt Designed by Urameselgwa a Symbol of Datooga’s Identity? EMÍLIA BIHARIOVÁ Department of Ethnology and World Studies, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Slovak Republic [email protected] ABSTRACT The paper focuses on the context of a traditional women’s wearing component – a leather skirt – on the example of the contemporary semi-nomadic Datooga1 and ideas, imaginations, and myths which this product of material culture represents. Analysis of the researched material composed from the statements of the daily users (married women) as well as the members of the society on example of the Datooga people (Buradiga subgroup) in a particular locality of Igunga district in Tanzania will demonstrate why the leather skirt, linked and designed by women’s deity Urameselgwa, is considered not only as a sign of marriage from the external perspective through outsider’s eyes, but mostly as an identification factor and strong cultural symbol through the Buradiga’s perception. The author explains how Urameselgwa is presented in the daily routine of the Buradiga’ women and which kind of privilege, so unique among East African pastoralists, is given to them by the wearing of the leather skirt transmitted from one generation to the other. KEY WORDS: Buradiga, Datooga, identity, leather skirt, Urameselgwa 1 I use both names Datooga (a name for the whole ethnic group) and Buradiga (a name for one of the subgroups of Datooga people) when referring to the researched semi-nomads. DOI: 10.2478/eas-2019-0008 © University of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava. All rights reserved. 15 ETHNOLOGIA ACTUALIS Vol. 19, No. 1/2019 EMÍLIA BIHARIOVÁ Is Leather Skirt Designed by Urameselgwa a Symbol of Datooga’s Identiy? Introduction While I was focusing on ethnographic data collection on educational efforts in the context of vanishing semi-nomadic way of the Datooga’s life in the Tabora region in Tanzania and consequently analysing the researched material, I formulated as one of the numerous reasons for avoiding schooling among these East African pastoralists, particularly girl’s schooling,2 an obvious fact – getting married in earlier age. Among the Datooga, a convenient age to get married for a girl is between 14 and 16 years, which is still equal to the schooling age. The situation around the attitude towards formal education could be expressed by a statement of one of my collaborators, a medicine man, who belongs to the first attendees of the local primary school (established in 1989) in the researched area: “Formal schooling itself is not bad, it is simply not in accordance with the Datooga’s mind. We are afraid that the young generation will leave the customs, the place of living and also the clan. They are already losing respect for the elders and there is a chance to abandon the religion for Christianity or Islam.” As declared one of the Buradiga men, the main protector of the customs and tradition in daily routine which form the social life among Datooga are women: “Mothers are looking to preserve tradition in the family, men are always in movement, going to the center, meetings, markets, sometimes absent all day, but women sustain the culture and highly influence children as well.” If we focus on women, one of the visual and typical signs of the Datooga’s customs and alive tradition is embodied by wearing a material component – a leather skirt, which symbolizes the status of a married woman. Such a ‘prehistoric’, ‘outdated’ and ‘smelly’ element of clothing by which are women widely recognized in the region, still current in various parts of Tanzania, where these semi-nomads are scattered, is from the outside perspective of neighbouring ethnic groups, travellers and even representatives of the state considered as a ‘leftover’ or better a surviving component of the pastoralists’ culture, a visual image. A question arises here: In the Datooga perspective, how much does the skirt influence the whole 2 More about girls’ schooling among the Datooga and schooling in general see: BIHARIOVÁ, Emília (2015): ‘We Don’t Need No Education’. A Case Study About Pastoral Datooga Girls in Tanzania. In Ethnologia Actualis 15 (2), pp. 30-45 and BIHARIOVÁ, Emília (2017): Education in a Context of Traditional Herding Life of Semi-nomads Datoga in Central Tanzania. PhD. Thesis. Trnava: University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius. DOI: 10.2478/eas-2019-0008 © University of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava. All rights reserved. 16 ETHNOLOGIA ACTUALIS Vol. 19, No. 1/2019 EMÍLIA BIHARIOVÁ Is Leather Skirt Designed by Urameselgwa a Symbol of Datooga’s Identiy? women’s world and consequently the Datooga culture? What does the skirt signify and mean in the real life of a pastoralist’s woman? An ethnographic approach could help us to reveal miscellaneous layers of the skirt’s representation and help us to understand better the hidden context of skirt’s wearing, not yet fully explained by anthropologists, and detect various realities connected with this manifestation of Datooga’s material culture. If we consider Datooga culture as a system of symbols and meanings through which these semi-nomads live their culture, interpret their behaviour, even reality which surrounds them (SOUKUP 1994:147), the skirt is a key with its own sense, signification to the social reality not automatically known to the ‘outsiders’. Its meaning is lived in people’s mind, recognized and passed inside of the culture as a part of their human nature (GEERTZ 1973:45-46). outwardly expressed in a form of a material element. Though Goodenough does not consider material phenomenon as an expression of culture, but he made a clear point when postulating that culture is rather a complex recognition, set of knowledge, “it is the forms of things that people have in mind, their models for perceiving, relating, and otherwise interpreting them” (GOODENOUGH 1957:167). Through this perception, I consider women’s leather skirt not only as a sign of a marriage or a reason for schooling avoidance, but there is an inner deeper meaning which the skirt symbolizes. I argue that the skirt related to the women deity Urameselgwa3 is still a strong ethnic-identification factor of present-day Datooga culture, a core of their identity, valued among the society, though the cultural pattern is decaying in decades as a consequence of conversion, globalization as well as progressive assimilation of different Datooga groups4 (e.g. currently subgroup Bianjida near Itigi in central Tanzania) scattered in numerous Tanzanian districts what is substantiated by various anthropologists who studied the 3 Among the biggest group of Datooga, the Barabaig, r is pronounced as d, deity is known as Udamaselgwa. I prefer to use the spelling with r, typical for the Buradiga. There are several names of the Datooga used in the academic sphere, the variation Datooga is utilized mostly by anthropologists. 4 In the1990s, Ndagala (1991) recognized seven subgroups (Bajuta, Barabaig, Rotigenga, Ishimijenga, Buradiga, Gisamijanga, Bianjida), the decade before, Tomikawa (1979) mentioned thirteen, Kjearby (1976) noted less than eight groups and one of the first anthropologists who focused on the Datooga, Wilson (1952), is counting fifteen emojiga. DOI: 10.2478/eas-2019-0008 © University of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava. All rights reserved. 17 ETHNOLOGIA ACTUALIS Vol. 19, No. 1/2019 EMÍLIA BIHARIOVÁ Is Leather Skirt Designed by Urameselgwa a Symbol of Datooga’s Identiy? Datooga5 people (WILSON 1952; KJEARBY 1976; TOMIKAWA 1979; NDAGALA 1991; YOUNG [online]6). Methodology The results are based on the analysis of the researched material which I collected among the Datooga people – Buradiga in a particular locality of Igunga district, in a village Chagana, which consists of the statements of the daily users, married women, as well as the members of the society such as unmarried girls, converts, elders, medicine men and men in general. The ethnographic research in Chagana among Buratiga subgroup has been ongoing since 2015, with short-term repeat stays (2-3 months per year) and continuing up to the present time. The choice of Buradiga and locality was preceded by a pre-research (2013) among the semi-nomads, by a long-term relationship and interest (since 2011)7. The data consist of participant observation in the field, the core foundation of ethnology, in-depth interviewing with a semi-structured questionnaire (repeated) and group discussions, mostly among women. Through the ongoing time, I did background literature research focused on relevant and crucial information regarding the skirt and the Datooga deity Urameselgwa, which were published mostly by KLIMA 1970; BLYSTAD – REKDAL 2004; BLYSTAD 2004 and YOUNG 2008. I would like to mention some remarks on how I obtained the required data and which kind of obstacles aroused mostly regarding the Datooga women’s deity since it highly influences my research in the field. Though I have conducter the research in the Chagana locality since 2015, I have been in touch with Chagana’s Buradiga since 2011 and I could characterize my links with locals as respectable, correct, friendly and even familiar, I did not expect such a vacuum, silence when it came to a question from women’s side: “Can you tell me more about Urameselgwa?” “Who she was?” In the middle of a conversation, suddenly the women said: “I know nothing.” The question was accompanied among other women by a smile, or with 5 There are several names of the Datooga used in the academic sphere, the variation Datooga is utilized mostly by anthropologists, Datooga mostly by linguists. 6 Since it is not a published essay but a separate text on website dedicated to the Datooga, year of publication is missing.
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